Ville  d'Avray — /.  B.  C.  Corot 


mBMIs  m i ' Hi 


MESSRS.  R.  C.  £sf  N.  M.  VOSE 

RESPECTFULLY  INVITE  YOU  AND 
YOUR  FRIENDS  TO  AN  EXHIBITION 
OF  PAINTINGS  BY  THE 

FRENCH  MASTERS  OF  1830 

THIS  EXHIBITION 
WILL  OPEN  MARCH  SEVENTEENTH 
NINETEEN  HUNDRED  AND  EIGHT, - 
THE  FIFTY-EIGHTH  ANNIVERSARY 
OF  THE  ESTABLISHMENT  IN  BUSI- 
NESS OF  THEIR  FATHER 

MR.  SETH  MORTON  VOSE 

OF  PROVIDENCE,  RHODE  ISLAND* 

MR.S.M.VOSE  IMPORTEDHIS  FIRST 
PAINTINGS  BY  COROT  IN  I 852,  HIS 
FIRST  TROYONS IN  I 854  ; BY  I 857 
HE  HAD  WORKS  BY  COROT,  DAU- 
BIGNY, MILLET,  DUPRE,  ROUSSEAU, 
TROYON,  DIAZ  AND  DELACROIX. 

THIS  IS  THE  SIXTY-SEVENTH  YEAR  FROM 
THE  FOUNDATION  OF  THE  HOUSE. 


THE  BARBIZON  SCHOOL 


*/  |‘BOUT  1830  the  revolt  against  Classi- 
<%/'-*-»  cism  in  France  was  at  its  height. 

In  art,  the  Romanticists,  under  the  leadership 
of  Gdricault,  Delacroix  and  Decamps,  had 
startled  the  world  by  their  brilliant  and  power- 
ful works. 

A little  group  of  landscape  painters,  Rous- 
seau, Millet,  and  Diaz,  lived  in  the  village  of 
Barbizon.  In  close  touch  with  them  were  other 
landscape  painters,  Corot,  Daubigny,  Duprd, 
and  Troyon.  All  devoted  lovers  of  Nature, 
they  studied  her  affectionately  and  searchingly 
in  all  her  varied  moods,  determined  to  depict 
the  Truth  without  regard  to  tradition. 

One  in  sympathy  and  in  aim,  they  aided  and 
inspired  each  other.  Struggling  for  long  years 
against  poverty,  derision,  and  neglect,  they 
transformed  landscape  art  until  it  became  no 
longer  mere  scene  painting,  but  a new  art  which 
showed  Nature  as  revealed  to  their  responsive 
souls. 

Their  message  to  mankind  is  one  of  faith  and 
love.  No  one  can  have  true  acquaintance  with 
their  works  without  feeling  their  uplifting,  in- 
spiring influence. 


JEAN  BAPTISTE  CAMILLE  COROT 

1 796— 1 875 

Pupil  of  A.  R.  Michallon  and  Victor  Berlin 

To  Corot  is  universally  accorded  the  supreme  place 
in  landscape  art,  which  he  has  influenced  as  has  no 
other  man.  Intellectually  great,  and  the  closest  stu- 
dent of  nature,  he  broke  away  from  tradition  and  pro- 
duced a new  art,  classical  as  the  art  of  the  Greeks, 
pure  as  his  own  nature  ; an  art  breathing  the  spirit 
of  the  morning,  fresh  with  dew ; an  art  subtle,  tender, 
and  poetic.  For  years  misunderstood,  his  art  rejected, 
he  never  lost  his  happiness  of  disposition,  never  be- 
came discouraged,  and  when  success  came  and  his 
work  was  accorded  the  highest  praise  he  labored  on 
as  unmoved  as  by  former  neglect,  producing  ever 
nobler  works  and  using  the  now  rich  returns  to  help 
the  needy. 

“ Le  Pere  Corot,”  as  he  was  so  affectionately  called 
by  his  countrymen,  died  the  best  loved  man  in  France. 
To  him  the  world  gives  affection  in  ever  increasing 
measure  as  it  appreciates  his  priceless  gift. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2015 


https://archive.org/details/frenchmastersof100vose 


CHARLES  FRANgOIS  DAUBIGNY 

1817-1878 

Pupil  of  Delar oche 


Like  his  best  friend  Corot,  an  ardent  lover  of  nature, 
Daubigny  devoted  his  life  to  studying  her  in  all  her 
garbs  and  moods.  The  best  years  of  his  life  were 
passed  in  his  house-boat  on  the  river  Oise,  which  he 
immortalized  by  his  art,  depicting  the  tranquil  flow 
of  its  waters  and  the  fresh  verdure  of  its  banks  in  a 
series  of  paysages  intimes  so  ideal  and  yet  so  true,  so 
complete  and  yet  so  subtle,  so  filled  with  the  poetry 
of  nature,  that  all  must  love  them. 

Equally  admirable  are  his  canvases  on  which  he 
shows,  with  great  power  and  beauty,  nature  in  her 
less  tranquil  moods.  In  freshness  and  purity  of  color 
his  pictures  are  unsurpassed,  and  in  their  atmosphere 
one  can  move  and  breathe. 


* 

# 


JEAN  FRANgOIS  MILLET 

1814-1875 

Pupil  of  Mouchel , Langlois  and  Delaroche 

Millet  went  to  Barbizon  at  the  age  of  thirty-five  and 
became  especially  intimate  with  Rousseau  and  Diaz, 
Himself  a peasant,  his  sympathies  were  all  with  the 
toilers  in  the  fields  and  cottages.  His  spinners  and 
gleaners,  ploughmen  and  sowers,  inspired  the  world 
with  a new  appreciation  of  the  dignity  of  labor,  and 
a new  respect  for  the  hardy  sons  and  daughters  of 
toil.  He  led  the  world  of  art  away  from  the  artificiali- 
ties of  life,  painting  sermons  on  canvas,  which  plead 
eloquently  for  simple  living,  and  some,  as  “ The  An- 
gelus  ” filled  with  the  profoundest  religious  feeling. 


JULES  DUPRE 

1812-1889 


Born  at  Nantes  and  practically  self-taught,  he  painted 
his  native  pastures  with  great  truth  and  charm.  Visit- 
ing England,  he  was  filled  with  admiration  for  the 
paintings  of  Constable,  who  exerted  a strong  influence 
over  him  and  his  brother  painters.  Dupre  and  Rous- 
seau became  very  intimate  friends,  and  together  with 
Diaz  have  immortalized  the  Forest  of  Fontainebleau. 
He  worked  with  a passionate  intensity,  depicting  the 
great  oaks,  which  were  his  favorite  models,  with  all 
their  native  majesty  and  beauty. 

His  landscapes  are  brilliant,  virile  and  powerful,  and 
the  great  clouds  which  roll  over  them  are  inspiring  in 
their  fleecy  grandeur. 


PIERRE  ETIENNE  THEODORE 
ROUSSEAU 

1812-1867 

Pupil  of  Remond  and  LethiZre 

Rousseau  painted  much  at  Auvergne  as  well  as  in 
Fontainebleau.  He  was  the  leading  spirit  in  the 
Barbizon  group,  all  of  whom  owed  much  to  his  influ- 
ence. He  painted  nature  with  the  utmost  fidelity  and 
with  wonderful  precision  and  skill  in  drawing,  tech- 
nique, and  composition,  being  indeed  a perfect  work- 
man with  a palette  rich  and  varied.  “ He  takes  the 
common  earth  and  while  showing  it  to  us  as  it  really 
is,  brings  out  all  its  homely  beauties.” 


CONSTANT  TROYON 


1810-1865 

Pupil  of  Roqueplan 

Through  his  master  Roqueplan,  Troyon  became  ac- 
quainted with  the  Barbizon  painters,  with  whom  he 
soon  sympathized.  At  Fontainebleau,  in  the  compan- 
ionship of  Theodore  Rousseau  and  Jules  Dupr6,  he 
discovered  the  path  which  led  to  the  full  develop- 
ment of  his  own  powers  and  from  the  Barbizon  coun- 
try came  the  inspiration  to  transfer  to  canvas  the 
browsing  cattle  and  the  rolling  meadows. 

So  closely  do  his  landscapes  and  the  cattle  harmonize 
that  neither  forces  our  attention  first,  but  we  follow 
him  through  the  simple  story  of  a summer  day  as  we 
might  read  from  the  book  of  Nature  herself.  He 
loved  best  to  depict  cattle,  and  as  a cattle  painter  he 
has  no  equal. 


NARCISSE  VIRGILE  DIAZ  DE  LA 
PENA 

1808-1876 


Diaz  was  born  in  France  of  Spanish  parentage,  and 
his  southern  temperament  shows  itself  in  all  his  work, 
which  is  brilliant,  sparkling,  rich  and  warm.  He  was 
pre-eminently  a colorist,  a worshipper  at  the  shrine  of 
Correggio,  and  whether  he  shows  us  a cluster  of 
flowers,  a group  of  dogs,  Venus  with  her  attendant 
nymphs,  or  the  glades  of  Fontainebleau  aglow  with 
sunlight,  always  the  eye  is  charmed  by  the  richness 
of  his  color  and  the  brilliance  of  his  technique.  The 
Orient  appealed  strongly  to  him  and  influenced  much 
of  his  work. 


MODERN 

PAINTINGS 


Early  English 
Barbizon  ::  :: 
American  and 
Modern  Dutch 


R.  C.  &>  N.  M.  VOSE 

320  Boylston  Street 
BOSTON 


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